Weekly Wind Down {Back to Co-op, Jazzminton, Game Night, Evie Learning to Write Her Name!} Jan 8-14, 2023

2023 is well underway.  

We began our week at worship with our new church family.  Every week it seems like we feel a little more at home and have new names of people we've met to tuck away in our hearts and minds.  We've enjoyed discussing the messages with the children throughout the week and everyone is really liking their morning classes.

Evalynn was very excited about her tulle skirt and was pretty sweet looking with her cream sweater.

We did a grocery pick up right after service and then worked vigorously when we got home.  After a quick lunch we cleaned up, and then while the kids were outside I got all the floors swept and mopped.  Mike helped the kids set up the new Jazzminton set they got from Grandma and Papa for Christmas and they had a lot of fun with it in the front yard.  (Our backyard is SO muddy - wahh - it's too small for how many children we have and how much we are out there.  Trying to make a plan for it before spring.)

We will definitely have a lot of fun with this game and mom is excited to get my turn.

We all worked in the basement, cleaning up the toys, sorting a few things out for sale/give away, and vacuuming/dusting/etc.  That felt great for a new week!

I made a big fried chicken supper and we prepped for co-op and got to bed at a good time so we were well rested in the morning.

Monday was an exciting morning.  Back to co-op for the first time in two months!  We were off for Thanksgiving and then a wave of sickness hit the group so we didn't meet during December at all.  We were packed up and ready to roll.  When we walked out all the utility companies were there to mark the yard and the plumber text me saying he was coming to dig up our drain pipe in the yard.  On New Years my drains in the basement began backing up again and when the washer drained the basement toilet fountained up.  Ha.  This happens about every 7-9 months (though the toilet feature was new) and the plumber comes and blasts the roots out of the drain.  Every time he tells the maintenance company that the pipe needs re-routed but I guess this time they took it very seriously - and arranged to have it done with no notice to us.  Very thankful it was a day planned out of the house so I didn't have to deal with no water and really just grateful they went forward with having it properly dealt with.

I lifted my coffee in cheers to all the utility workers as I got in the bus and left it to Mike to deal with.  Thankful he was able and it didn't disturb our co-op day at the last minute.

Co-op was a blast.  We were missing a family who had sickness, but we enjoyed the friends we were able to see.  My music/art class focused on music this session and reviewed everything we had learned before introducing the bass clef.  I gave my cuties a "pop quiz" of labeling the treble clef and was met with squeals of delight when I used the phrase quiz.

A photo I snitched from a fellow teacher of Natalee in her STEM class.  And Xavier in the black hood at the end.  I appreciate getting a glimpse of their classes.

Mia under the parachute at PE.

I only had 2 preschoolers at the beginning of my class and 3 at the end, so we did part of our teddy bear unit and saved part for next time.  Teddy bear bread was a huge hit with the little 2 that were there...

but the real winner of the day was the water bin filled with plastic teddy bears and toys.  The turkey basters were especially thrilling.

We sang our teddy bear song and then when I released them back to play they played with their teddy bears and I heard little voices repeating the song we'd learned.

We had lunch together and then my crew stopped by for about a half hour to see Aunt Annette who is home now!  She had an appointment coming in, so we didn't stay long.  

Evalynn and "Christmas" the bear took a nap on the way home.

It was a lovely lovely day and the kids played outside for a couple hours when we got home, and then Zayden had wrestling and Natalee had swim.

After I ran Natalee to swim I stopped in to see what wrestling was like.  Up to this point Mike has done all the wrestling practices and it's important to me that our kids know I'm interested in what they are interested in.  After watching a couple of flips to the floor I realized that my protective mom instincts are probably best served away from the wrestling mats.

After chatting with a friend for a few minutes I headed out.

Tuesday was a kind of routine school day.  Our therapy schedules are a bit messy this semester so we actually had hippotherapy at lunch time.  We made it a good day despite the strange schedule.

Evalynn got to open the last group gift - a new Ticket to Ride.

Zayden asked to set up the air fort so we did that and left it up several days.  I didn't have a living room floor for those days but it was worth it to hear the giggles and watch the joy.

Morning time felt so good this week.  

The boys are showing off their creations that they built while I read aloud.  

Zayden used PlusPlus blocks to make the bat signal.

Xavier built stairs with Zoobs.

Mia borrowed Natalee's watercolor markers to draw.

The wind was just very bitey and not very inviting outside so we didn't get much time outdoors.  I scheduled make your own pizza and family game night and we all loved having that to look forward to!

First we took turns playing games with Evalynn.

Too Many Teddies...

and Bed Bugs...

Then she got a half hour of iPad game time (oh yes she did, don't come at me) while we played games with our big kids.  The new Ticket to Ride was only for 3 players (sad) so we set up two games side by side.  Natalee, Zayden, and I played Ticket to Ride London while Mike, Mia, and Xavier played the new Ticket to Ride Nordic countries.

I made it my goal to be up before my children every day this week and in the kitchen setting out or making breakfast and I succeeded.  I'm so thankful to have my energy coming back after being sick.  I also worked hard on my water intake this week!  

The game night inspired early morning games on Wednesday which did make it a little hard to encourage the kids to follow their morning routines.  Ah, that balance between homeschool freedom and having a routine.

No other highlights from Wednesday.  We had a nice regular school day and got outside for a little over an hour before heading to church for Awana and Youth Group.

Natalee had early morning OT/PT on Thursday morning.

Zayden is always willing to try to teach Evalynn new games.  He cares not whether she's really old enough.

I really struggled on Thursday.  I woke up anxious and had no explanation for it.  I decided that I could either wallow in it or fight back and so I took the "fake it until you make it" approach.  I didn't ever really quite "make it" but I tried to share joy with our children.  I made morning time special with a snack treat bar and read a little extra while the kids ate.  

After morning time the day flowed into school, lunch, and our regular routine.  

Zayden doing reading kicked back in the recliner.  What a privilege.

A story before nap time.

I did lay down when Evalynn took her nap and intentionally took a rest.  We had leftovers that I planned to put in the oven and re-heat for supper so my afternoon was pretty light.

Zayden and Mike went to wrestling after supper and the other children had a movie night before bed.

Friday was a school day since we were at co-op on Monday.

Evalynn was not much interested in school all week but on Friday she was ready to learn!  We did all the things and I introduced her to tracing her name which was very exciting.  I read years ago that there was no great benefit to connecting dots to learn name writing vs tracing good strong letters made properly on the paper so we've always had the children learn by tracing written highlighter.

I believe my little learner is a leftie.  She was a wonderful listener and worked hard to follow the steps of tracing her letters correctly.

A proud face!

The highlighter was purple so her writing is the blue marker.

After we did her name several times, we worked on next week's Awana lesson.  To get her golden apple, Evalynn needed to help prepare her meal and thank God for it.  We were having a simple lunch on Friday but she helped tear up her meat, open her cheese, and we paired it with some peppers and a banana.

Zayden seemed determined to take over my rug this week.  Ha.  Air fort, then a day and a half of magnet block builds, and finally micro machines that he needed to leave out for a couple days.

A pouty Evie who was not allowed to play with micro machines per mom without asking Zayden's permission.

But he did invite her Gabby's Dollhouse people into his micro machine world because he is generous of heart.

I love listening to them play.  I am thankful for the basement playroom but I don't mind having them on the living room floor so I can better hear their imaginations.

Natalee had swim Friday night and Mike took the other children to open gym to run and play.  I enjoyed my book and the quiet, which I greatly needed.

I think this was our first weekend at home without an activity in almost two months.  It felt delightful.

The children watched cartoons and we had a slow start.

I threw together a grocery pick up order - we seem to be functioning a week at a time without a menu plan (who wants to write that for me?).

I tossed all the open boxes and bags of things into the roasting pan and made a last big batch of party mix, which pleased the boys and Evalynn greatly.  Mike hung shelves in the girls' room, I washed bedding and did laundry.  Mid morning I took quite a big tumble and that slowed the rest of my day considerably.  My thighs are deeply bruised outside on both sides and I feel a bruise coming out on my upper arm and I have a couple of sore ribs.  I was slow but tried not to sit a lot because I knew I'd get very stiff if I was too still.

Ameliya has been asking for help with this doll's hair for weeks and I finally just decided to give it a go.  I washed and conditioned it with my products and then used my argan hair mask on it.  My snapchat followers had a good chuckle from the videos and pictures of Meridith's spa day.

By the way, YouTube said to use liquid fabric softener, which I didn't have, so don't take advice from me.

While I went to get our grocery order and make a return, Mike took the kids to the skate park for a bit.  The wind made the 40 degrees seem chilly but they got an hour outside and a change of scenery.

I also decided today to make my birthday cake.  We were all so sick on my birthday that no one cared about cake.  My sisters sent pizza and cinnamon sticks and so the sticks were dessert and that was perfect for the situation.  However, I'm the only one who ever chooses plain old chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and vanilla ice cream for my birthday so we only have this cake once a year, if that.  And I sure did want a piece, so I made it.  Then I made my family sing to me.  And we laughed and smiled and they thanked me for my weird month late birthday celebration.

I can't think of a better way to have ended the week.